Engaging Ideas - 10/14

A collection of recent stories and reports to make you think about how to make progress on divisive issues.

Every week we curate stories and reports on complex issues. This week: How one young man is distorting polling averages, and how to become a savvy consumer of polling data. The Education Department releases final teacher prep regulations, plus some research on the profession. And a quick history of the politics around universal childcare.

Engagement

Gerald Markowitz
and David Rosner on Citizen Scientists and the Lessons of Flint
(Milbank Quarterly)Gerald
Markowitz and David Rosner explain the story of Flint as a classic case of the
dual legacies of public health, one rooted in advocacy and aligned with community
residents and activists, and the other protecting the interests of state
bureaucracies using their own image as scientists. Out of that conflict a
movement grew that forced the wider public health community to acknowledge the
depths of the problem and the failure of the state to protect its people.

Public Opinion/ Polling

How One
19-Year-Old Illinois Man Is Distorting National Polling Averages (The
Upshot)He
is sure he is going to vote for Donald J. Trump. And he has been held up as
proof by conservatives — including outlets like Breitbart News and The New York
Post — that Mr. Trump is excelling among black voters. He has even played a
modest role in shifting entire polling aggregates, like the Real Clear Politics
average, toward Mr. Trump.

How the
education gap is tearing politics apart (The Guardian)In
the year of Trump and Brexit, education has become the greatest divide of all –
splitting voters into two increasingly hostile camps. But don’t assume this is
simply a clash between the ignorant and the enlightened.

Higher Education & Workforce Development

Election
2016: Focus on Higher Education (Association for
Institutional Research)In
normal electoral cycles, public visibility of the issue would create competing
policy visions by the two major party candidates, but this year’s
unconventional political contest between former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and businessman Donald Trump offers a contrast in substance and
specificity.

Other program characteristics, including assurances that the program has specialized
accreditation or graduates candidates with content and pedagogical knowledge,
and quality clinical preparation, who have met rigorous exit requirements.

Tackling
The Education-To-Employment Gap (Forbes)Michael
Horn had the chance to ask Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, and Kevin
Gilligan, CEO of Capella, a series of questions to explore the rationale behind
and the mechanics of the partnership.

How
Politics Killed Universal Childcare In The 1970s (NPR)American
parents often have difficulty securing care for their children while they go to
work. Childcare in the U.S. is tremendously expensive, and in many parts of the
country, extremely scarce. Rewind almost 50 years, and the same problems
existed. But in 1971, the United States came very close to having universal,
federally subsidized childcare. NPR examines how Congress came to pass the
legislation, and why President Nixon vetoed it.